"I visited Planes of Fame about 3 years ago. If I had to offer a one-word description it would be "Wow!" ... I was wearing my VFM uniform shirt and ID badge (and) the folks at Planes of Fame welcomed me like I was a personal friend!"

Internet post from Texas

Message from the President, Steve Hinton

As President of Planes of Fame Air Museum, I am proud to uphold our mission to preserve aviation history, inspire interest in aviation, educate the public, and honor aviation pioneers and veterans. In fulfilling our mission and gathering and telling the stories of our veterans, we help our children and grandchildren understand the sacrifices made for our freedom.

Every day at Planes of Fame Air Museum, you can experience history - both the reliving of it and the making of it. When one of our planes flies, for most it is a rare and wonderful thing to witness. Planes of Fame Air Museum has maintained a fleet of flyable historic aircraft for over 50 years! The Museum has operated these aircraft longer than the Army Air Corps or Air Force did. Planes of Fame Air Museum truly is where aviation history lives.

Our founder, Ed Maloney, collected the aircraft when no one else thought it was important. Thanks to his foresight, over 200 WWII aircraft survived the scrap heap, and are on display here or at other museums around the world. Today we maintain and restore the aircraft with the help of our dedicated volunteers. Our pilots volunteer their time to take the aircraft to air shows so that people everywhere get the chance to hear the Merlin or Pratt and Whitney engines roar.

Our wonderful docents give tours to school children and other groups, telling the tales of our veterans to honor their service. Volunteers collect the stories of our veterans. Volunteers help out in the gift shop, clean the aircraft, and run our programs like the annual air show and monthly living history events. Soon we will have volunteers teaching students math and science concepts in the Aviation Discovery Center (ADC).

You too can experience history through Planes of Fame Air Museum. Maybe you live too far to visit, but I hope this website gives you a taste of what we try to do here every day. And maybe someday, you will hear the roar, look up in the sky and see one of our planes overhead!